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Tuesday, December 20, 2016

Hello everyone: I hope all your Christmas shopping is done, the Tree is trimmed and your Holiday cards are on their way to family and friends. This time at SHOPPING OUR STASH, we want to give you a break from making Christmas cards so, our challenge for next week is SNOW, SNOW, SNOW.
We want to see cards with snow, snowflakes, snow men, etc. anything with snow in it but not a Holiday card. Here is mine to inspire you to join us in the gallery.

This image is from Purple Onion and it's called Snowy Winter Owl, from the fabulous Stacey Yacula collection, he is just adorable, don't you think?

I created this Winter scene all with Purple Onion stamps. I used the Birch Tree Background, the Snowy Fence and the Sign, only after I colored it, I snipped just the board and wrote the words myself, since I didn't have a stamp small enough to fit that said "Let it Snow".

First I stamped the fence then, I made a mask of it with plain copy paper and put a bit of Two Way Glue and let it dry so it would be just sticky. Then put the mask on top of my stamped fence and stamped the trees, finally I stamped the Owl.

Colored everything with SU markers, the aqua painter and highlighted all the images with a bit of Prismacolor pencils. I gave my little Owl some "feathers", hope you can see them.

When everything was dry, I applied some embossing paste, (used this for the first time ever) with a snowfall stencil, let it dry (it dries super quick) and then sponged a bit of Broken China for the sky.

I made the mistake of not sponging the sky first and then apply the embossing paste because my snowflakes turned blue when I was done so, to save my card, I grabbed the aqua painter and, one by one, I carefully applied a bit of water with the brush tip and quickly wiped it with a paper napkin, I was very happy that the snowflakes returned to their white color.

Sometimes, I combine several stamp sets to get the look or the sentiments I want and in this case, the sentiment is from a retired SU set called "Snow much fun" and so is the little bird playing with the snow ball in the lower corner.

So I hope you go dig up some old favorites in your stash of Winter themed stamps and join us in the gallery and don't forget to go check out my teammates blogs for even more fabulous inspiration.

Please read our rules, they are few and easy but necessary.

Thank you for stopping by, I always read every single comment you so kindly leave on my posts, I want you to know I appreciate this more than words can express.

Sunday, December 18, 2016

Hello everyone: I've been absent for a short while from posting, I think it's all of the Holiday preparations, shopping and wrapping gifts plus, my usual grandma taxi service, the cold weather and gray days don't help my MOJO at all so, I'm hoping that, after the Holiday rush and a brand new year, things will again feel normal.
Today I have a sweet little card for no one in particular, but the "Less is More" challenge had a great idea to break a little bit the Holiday theme. Their theme is ''CHILDREN" and that is why I made this card.

This sweet image is a digi I bought a long time ago, I've forgotten where, but at the time my printer was working ok so I printed several of this images on Vellum so I could have them at hand for who ever is having a baby. You can color the little hat any color, I colored it blue with my Prismacolor Pencils, the tiny baby was given a bit of color with chalks, I tried on a scrap piece of vellum to color it with markers and pencils but the lines were to harsh so then, I remembered I had a box of chalks I bought a long time ago, never use them really but they were perfect to color this image. Using a Q-tip, I rubbed the color in circular motion all over, applying a bit more on the shadow parts and edges, I was very careful with this sweetie's cheeks 😉, I hope you can see the blush on his little face. The embossed frame is from SU and it's called "Filigree Frame" (retired), the sentiment is from a retired Flourishes set called "Baby Love".

Tuesday, December 13, 2016

Hello everyone: With Christmas just around the corner, here at SHOPPING OUR STASH we want you to make some tags for all those gifts for family and friends that will go under your tree.
Tags are quick and easy to make, choose a pretty stamp and a sweet sentiment, use a die or a punch for the tag, string a festive ribbon and you are done. Here is a couple of tags I made, hope it inspires you to make some and share them in our gallery.

First I punched the tags with the Stampin' Up! Scalloped Punch, I then embossed the left side with the retired Stampin' Up! Filigree Frame embossing folder and then, stamped my little images from the Stacey Yacula collection from Purple Onion Designs. Both the Jingle Bells and the Winterberry Small Snowman were stamped with Stazon black ink and colored with Prismacolor pencils and paper stumps dipped in baby oil.

The sentiments are from the same collection. I punched a separate tag in red and blue as a background and I added a little white piece of card stock to write something. The ribbon is from my bottomless drawer and so is the metallic thread, I have a huge stash of this threads so I need to use them more.

Feel free to make any kinds of tags, they don't necessarily have to be for the Holidays, I just made these because I've been neglecting my Purple Onion stamps, they are so beautiful so I really don't know why I've been forgetting them. This is the purpose of this challenge, to go dig out your neglected stuff, whether it's papers, embellishment, stamps, punches or dies, go on and Shop YOUR Stash and join us in the gallery and, while you're there, check out my teammates awesome tags so you can get even more inspired.

Monday, December 12, 2016

Hello everyone: This post is super late, I usually do my posts in the morning but I had some last minute shopping to do for my grandchildren so, it was totally necessary to venture out, although the moment I arrived at the Mall, I almost turned around, the parking lot looked like they were giving away the merchandise, sheeesh!!
But anyway, I have this quick card I whipped out a bit before I left, I just needed to take the pictures so I waited for the sun to come out to do that, it was really gray this morning.
I will link up this card to a few challenges at the end of this post.

This images are from the new Power Poppy by Marcella Hawley set calledWreaths Plain and Fancy, I stamped it onto plain white card stock with Stazon black ink and colored it with Prismacolor Pencils, I added a bit of spark with Dazzling Diamonds.

The sentiment is from another amazing Power Poppy set called O Holy Night, and it was heat embossed in gold.

Saturday, December 10, 2016

Hello everyone: I have a super quick card to share with you, I needed a few more cards to send out and this one is super simple yet very pretty. I will link it to a few challenges at the end of the post.

I used the retired SU Ornament Punch on one of the designs on the also retired Winter Wonderland Designer Vellum Stack, such delicate designs on each sheet.

I punched just the top with gold foil paper and attached gold cord to "hang" it from the edge of the embossed panel, I used a Cuttlebug embossing folder called "Grace's Frame", so pretty.

I die cut the word "Merry" with Penny Black "Love and Joy" die set using gold Christmas wrapping paper, I have tons of it.

Hello dear friends: We are at the half way point on our The Flower Challenge #3, where we asked you to create a card using your older stamps or dies so, I'm here to remind you that you still have time to join us in the gallery with your creations. I know it's a busy time of the year but this will give you a chance to create one more card for your Holiday card giving or for a birthday or just about any occasion. Here is my card, I used a very old stamp set from Flourishes that made it's debut back in 2010 called "Beauty Within", I hope you get a little inspiration from me and join us.

I love the images on this set, they look like stain glass windows. I stamped this one onto a panel of Strathmore multi media paper and colored it with my SU markers and an aqua painter. Since I don't have the die to cut this image, I just fussy cut it leaving a small border.

The pattern paper is from Lili of the Valley, (sadly discontinued), the card stock and ribbon, from my stash, the sentiment is from the set.

Friday, December 9, 2016

Hello dear blogging friends: Well, today marks a very special day for me, December 9th. 2014 is when I venture into the unknown world of blogs, a totally uncharted territory for me, but I took this leap of faith and here I am, 2 years later, still at it and having a great time.
I've met a lot of fabulous new friends that joined my old time ones, (you know who you are 😉) from all over this great USA and the rest of the world.
I've been very busy with a kitchen full of workers that are giving me a new and beautiful, simple but elegant set of new cabinets, plus having to tend to my taxi service for my grandchildren and all the other things I must do daily but, I didn't want this day to go by without at least giving myself a pat in the back, making me a CELEBRATION card and sharing this with all of you.
So her is my card to ME, hope you like it.

This image is from Power Poppy by Marcella Hawley from a set called "Marcella's Mixtape Volume1" and it has a collection of other sets, all this images are beautiful.

I stamped mine onto a piece of Strathmore multi media paper with Versafine black ink and clear heat embossed it then, I colored it with SU markers and the aqua painter. I fussy cut the two horns and glued them to a small oval die cut then, die cut the swirls coming out of them and added a few Rhine Stones for a bit of bling.

Tuesday, December 6, 2016

Hello Everyone: There is a new challenge over at SHOPPING OUR STASH this week, this time we are asking you to join us in the gallery with a gift wrapping project, whether is a handmade box for some goodies, an envelope for a gift card, a box of tags or handmade cards, etc. we want to see it. I hope my project inspires you to give this challenge a try, I will have a link below to the video tutorial for this box.

This is a box for scented tea light candles, they are inexpensive and always a welcomed gift. The pretty box couldn't be easier to make so, please check out THIS VIDEO from Samantha Donald if you want to recreate this sweet little box. All I did was to change the pattern paper and the greeting, you can decorate it the same way or any way you want to.

Here is a picture of how it looks when it's open.

This candles are Vanilla scented, my craft room smells delicious. Believe it or not, you can fit 12 of them in this box, this would make a great little gift for your kids' and grandkids' teachers, coworkers, the mail lady, your hair dresser, neighbors, etc.

So go ahead, give this a try and join us in the gallery.

For more inspiration, go check out my teammates blogs to see their awesome creations.

Thank you so much for stopping by, I always read every comment you so kindly leave on my posts, I want you to know I appreciate this more than words can express.

Hello everyone, I'm so happy to share with you our new RETRO RUBBER Challenge, that will run from December 6th. through the 16th. giving you plenty of time to create a card inspired by our photo, use it for your color inspiration. This is the card I made, hope you like it.

This beautiful stack of porcelain tea cups is from a super old Flourishes set called "Christmas Tea", it's one of the first stamp sets I bought from this company back in 2010.

I stamped this image onto a piece of Strathmore multi media paper with Versamark ink and then, heat embossed it in gold, I then colored it with SU markers and an aqua painter.

When it was completely dry, I fussy cut around it and, using a very sharp exacto knife, cut the holes on the cup handles, how I wish there were companion dies to this beautiful stamp sets.

The pattern paper is from my very old stash and so is the ribbon. The little sentiment is from the set.

The sentiment and the little row of cups and mugs are from the set, the frame around the sentiment is from another very old Flourishes set called "Country Charm Labels".

I hope you join us in the gallery. Please, take a moment to read our rules, they are simple but necessary. One of the most important ones is that we would love to know the age of your stamps, not so much the date they hit the market but instead, how long you've had them.

Another important rule is that you can participate in up to 10 challenges including ours.

For more awesome inspiration, please hop over my teammates blogs to admire their beautiful creations.

Sunday, December 4, 2016

Hello everyone: I have a card I was supposed to post yesterday but I got sidetracked so, here it is today. I saw this die on Pinterest some time ago, it's from Poppy Stamps and it's called Snowflake Breeze and, as it's usually the case, added it to my never ending wish list, from which I pick some stuff to buy once in a while, wish I could buy it all but that would put my self imposed budget in the RED for a very long time. But anyway, here's my card, hope you like it.

I cut a panel of SU Whisper White card stock with the die, then, I cut a piece of, believe it or not, Christmas wrapping paper, I wanted to cut it with silver glimmer paper but all I had was small pieces so I had to dig out this shimmery paper and, I must say, it worked great, hope you can see the speckles of glitter, I placed a panel of dark blue card stock behind the top panel to make those snowflakes really pop.

The little Snowman is from a retired SU stamp set called "White Christmas", from the 2014 Holiday Mini catalog, super cute images, love the look on his sweet face, I just love this set. The sentiment is from SU Teeny Tiny Wishes.

Thank you so much for stopping by, I always read every single comment you so kindly leave on my posts, I want you to know I appreciate this more than words can express.
Until next time, happy stamping, hugs from Maria.

Hello everyone: Well, here we are with another fabulous challenge for you to play with over at THE FLOWER CHALLENGE#3, this time, we want you to go dig out some of your favorite, OLD flower stamps and/or dies, and join us in the gallery. You know how it is sometimes, we keep buying new things and the old favorites get a bit forgotten, right? Well, here's your chance to give them another chance to shine. My card has an image from a stamp set called "Picking Wild Flowers" that I bought from a company called Flourishes back in 2010. That original company went out of business about 3 years ago. The die is from Spellbinders Nestabilities Decorative Labels 8 and it's also an old friend, I've had it since 2012.

I stamped the image onto a panel of Strathmore multi media paper with Versafine black ink and clear heat embossed it then, colored it with SU markers and the aqua painter. I die cut this panel with the retired SU Labels Collection dies and I glued it to the purple Spellbinders die, the card base is in Basic Black, I added a few Rhine Stones for a bit of bling.

Thursday, December 1, 2016

Hello everyone: Well, it's here!!! December 1st!! I don't know about you but for me, this year just flew by at warp speed so now, it's time to crank it up and finish those Christmas cards with enough time to send them out so, I look for Christmas challenges to get a few more on my stash.
This one has totally NON TRADITIONAL Christmas colors but it's really pretty, if I say so myself. Hope you think so too. I will link this card to a few challenges at the end of this post.

This image is from a set from Power Poppy by Marcella Hawley called Cozy Cupfuls, all of the images are beautiful. I stamped this one onto a die cut panel of Strathmore multi media paper with Versafine black ink and clear heat embossed it, then colored with SU markers and an aqua painter.

The sentiment comes in this set, the purple vellum paper is from my stash, the golden one from SU but it's retired.

Tuesday, November 29, 2016

Hello dear blogging friends: This new challenge over at Shopping Our Stash is a real fun one, we want you to make your cards using the BARGELLO TECHNIQUE. Must tell you, I've never tried this technique, I've seen it but never tried it so I knew I needed study this a bit to be able to do it right, the good thing is that the video is really fabulous and easy to follow, we hope you give this technique and our challenge a try. What I found out is that this is a great way to use all of those left over pattern paper pieces that you can't bring yourself to trow away, here is my card, hope you like it.

Once I had watched the video a couple of times, all I needed to do is dig into the box where I put all of my leftover patter paper pieces and get to work, it was actually relaxing and surprisingly easy.

You know me, I must have a stamped, water colored image so I grabbed this old favorite from Power Poppy's Poinsettia stamp set, stamped it with Versafine black ink and colored it with SU markers and the aqua painter. I stamped the sentiment onto a piece of Vellum just so the design could be seen, I didn't want to cover all my hard work.

Sentiment is from the same set, the little tree in the corner is from Power Poppy's Merry Littles, which is my "go to" set to finish the inside of my Holiday cards, all of this images are simply adorable.

So, I hope you give this easy and fun technique a try and then, please join us in our gallery, we can't wait to see what you create. Don't forget to go check out my teammates beautiful cards on their blogs for more awesome inspiration.

Thank you for stopping by, I always read every single comment you so kindly leave on my posts, I want you to know I appreciate this more than words can express.

Friday, November 25, 2016

Hello everyone: Every year, a little before the Holiday season starts, Brian King organizes a Holiday card swap for all of his blog followers, he asks us to make a card, using current SU products as much as possible and send it to him, along with a self addressed and stamped envelope, at his house, where he takes pictures of all the cards, mix them up and sends them back to all of us who participated, it's fun to receive a beautiful card from far away, thanks to him. Then, at a later date, he starts sharing all of the cards that arrived in his overflowing mail box, with us on his blog. It's so much fun seeing all of this beautiful cards on parade, where we can appreciate and get inspired by all of them, this is the card I sent, using the new Father Christmas stamp set and the Pretty Pines Thinlits Dies, I love, love both of this beautiful sets.

I used the Birch embossing folder on a panel of Cherry Cobbler card stock, added a strip of retired SU gold embossed vellum from the Winter Wonderland Designer Paper Stack, die cut the pine branches, pine cones and bows with the Pretty Pines dies and added a bit of Dazzling Diamonds for a bit of sparkle. The beautiful Santa image was stamped onto a piece of Strathmore multi media paper and colored with SU markers and an aqua painter, I added a few little Rhine Stones to the Christmas Tree as ornaments.

Wednesday, November 23, 2016

Hello everyone: I have another card made with my absolutely favorite little critters, the House Mouse siblings, this one is a CAS card, (hope I'm right). As I read the definition of CAS this types of cards should have lots of open space, minimum layers and embellishments and should be easily reproduced once you have the design so, for me, this card was super easy to make.
I'm entering this card to the CASology Challenge, Week#225, with THE CUE WORD "SOFT".

When I saw CASology's new challenge, my mind immediately geared towards this little image, perhaps because of the puffy cotton ball this sweetie is sleeping on, or perhaps because this little mouse is pure softness on it's own.

I die cut a panel of Strathmore multi media paper and die cut it with THIS Wonky Stitched Dies by Gina Marie Designs, then I stamped my little mouse with Versafine black ink and clear heat embossed it, colored it with SU markers and an aqua painter, the sentiment is from SU Teeny, Tiny Wishes, inked up with Certainly Celery.

Tuesday, November 22, 2016

Hello everyone: The RETRO RUBBER challenge is back, this time it's a fabulous sketch that will spark your imagination and allow you to create something fabulous and join us in the gallery. I think Sketches are up there in the favorite challenges category with the "Anything Goes" ones because you can really fill the spaces with anything you want, you can even turn the sketch on it's head and/or use it horizontally, it 's up to you so, come along and play with us, we can't wait to see what you create.
This is my inspiration card for you and, for even more inspiration, hop over my teammates' blogs to see the wonderful projects they made.

This image is truly Vintage, both in look and age. The stamp set was from Flourishes and it's called "Petals and Peace" and it was issued around November of 2012.

I stamped this image onto a panel of Strathmore multi media paper with Versafine black ink and clear heat embossed it, then I colored it with my SU markers and an aqua painter. The bells are colored with a gold gel pen. After I finished coloring it, I fussy cut it. I picked up the colors of the pattern paper to choose my card stock, I really love this one sided paper, I'm down to a few pieces so I think it's time to get some more.

The Sentiment is from another very old Flourishes set called "Sentimental Christmas" that dates way back in November of 2011.

I usually find out the age of my stamps by visiting Splitcoaststampers, if you know the name of your sets, this is a great place to find the first time they were used.

Another great way is through Pinterest browsing the name of the set you will find cards made with it and, by visiting the blogs of the creators of those cards, you can more or less, see the date when they were used. Remember that at Retro Rubber one of the rules is for you to please tell us the age of your stamp sets, or at least, how long you've had them.

The sentiment is from Power Poppy by Marcella Hawley's Ponsettia that was issued for the first time back in 2014 and that is how long I've had it.

The little present on the corner is from another Power Poppy set called Merry Littles which contains a fabulous array of super sweet and cute little images to adorn the front or the inside of your Holiday cards, this is my go to set for finishing the inside.

I hope you like this card and join me and my fabulous teammates in our gallery. Please remember to read our rules, they are few but important, the two main ones are: 1.- the stamps you use MUST be at least one year old and 2.- you can only link up to a maximum of 10 challenges, including ours.

For even more amazing inspiration, hop over my teamies blogs and check out their awesome projects.

Thank you so much for stopping by, I always read every comment you so kindly leave on my posts, I want you to know I appreciate this more than words can express.

Hello everyone: Here we are with a new challenge for you to try over at Shopping Our Stash , with the days getting chilly and Christmas just about a month away, I made this card to add to my stash of Holiday cards and to inspire you to do the same and then, join us in the gallery. I hope you like it.

This image is from a set from Power Poppy by Marcella Hawley called Bough Wow Wow and it's indeed a WOW set. This thick and warm mittens just invite you to wear them, specially if they are knitted by your grandma, ask me how I know that!

I stamped the image onto a panel of Strathmore multi media paper and colored it with SU markers and the aqua painter, I added some shadows with Prismacolor pencils and a bit of sparkle to the puffs with Dazzling Diamonds. The banner is from a super old set by Spellbinders called Ribbon Banners, the sentiment was stamped using an old Flourishes set called "Sentimental Christmas", love this photopolymer stamps because they are so pliable and you can bend them like I did here to fit the curve of the banner. I found some silver metallic thread and wrapped it around the punched corners of the panel to further frame this pretty image.

Monday, November 21, 2016

Hello everyone: Well, November is winding down, Thanksgiving is near and I'm looking forward to the rest of the Holiday season. I need a few more Christmas cards so I made this one with one of the prettiest Stampin' Up! Christmas sets from last years Holiday catalog. I will link this card to a few challenges at the end of this post.

The set is called "All Ye Faithful....." and the images are beautiful and super easy to color. I stamped this image onto a water color die cut with Versafine black ink and clear heat embossed it, then colored it with SU markers and an aqua painter. The patter paper is from my stash and so is the die cut golden star, the sentiment is from an old Flourishes set and it's heat embossed in gold.

The embossed panel on the back is done with a Sizzix embossing folder.